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High Occurrence of Thrombosis Found in Lymphoma Patients

A meta-analysis looking at thrombotic complications in adults with lymphoma has found a high incidence of thrombosis in these patients, particularly those with advanced-stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

Results of the study, led by Vanesa Caruso, MD, of the Department of Hemostasis at the National Academy of Medicine in Buenos Aires, were published in Blood (2010;115:5322-5328)

Eighteen studies, including a total of 29 cohorts, 18,018 patients, and 1,149 events, were included in the meta-analysis.

Globally, the incidence rate for thrombosis was 6.4%; and 5.3% and 1.1% for venous and arterial events, respectively. Disease-specific rates for thrombosis however, were significantly higher for patients with NHL versus Hodgkin's lymphoma—6.5% and 5.6%, respectively.

Patients with advanced NHL also had a higher incidence of thrombotic events than did patients with low-grade disease—8.3% vs 6.3%.

“These results may help better define lymphoma populations at high thrombotic risk, in whom prophylactic approaches presently lacking could be preferentially developed,” the authors wrote.

The presence of compression of venous vessels was indicated as a risk factor in several studies, although the characteristics of the available data did not lend itself to be included in the metaanalysis, the authors noted.

Compression of veins by local growth of lymphoma was identified as the cause of thrombosis in 50% of cases and was correlated to clinical events in 11% of cases with advanced-stage disease.

This, along with the use of central venous catheters, could be additional risk factors for thrombotic complications, the authors concluded.